Question

Bioethics- Is a surgeon who has never successfully carried out a particular surgical procedure under an obligation to inform patients of this fact before attempting to carry out that procedure on them?

Answer 1

A surgeon who has never successfully carried out a particular surgical procedure is certainly under an obligation to inform patients of this fact before attempting to carry out that procedure on them. As per medical ethics principles, the surgeon has the obligation to respect the patient's right to disclosure. An inexperienced surgeon, a resident, should always disclose this to his patient, which is part of revealing his identity before getting the informed consent signed from the patient. Going against this norm would be a violation of patient autonomy. Since the patient meets the surgeon only for the surgery and doesn't know anything about his identity, unlike a primary care physician, the surgeon should make sure that he has revealed every professional detail about him to the patient. An exception is an emergency surgery of an acute care patient. The patient has the right to choose and can choose not to sign the informed consent and postpone the surgery to be done by a well-experienced successful surgeon of his choice later. Failure to reveal the identity is often due to dehumanization or objectification of the patient.